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Anna Kendrick played the role of Jessica Stanley in The Twilight Saga, the best friend of Kristen Stewart’s character. Although it was a minor character, Kendrick managed to bring her weird girl energy into the role. However, Kendrick felt that she dropped the ball on one scene, where the makers expected her to go off script. She shared that it was Stewart who saved the scene.
Anna Kendrick and Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga | Credits: Summit EntertainmentKendrick received wider attention for her role in Up in the Air. She rose to leading lady status in the Pitch Perfect film series. However, she still fondly remembers her days on the Twilight set, even sharing that it was the world’s most ridiculous day job for her.
Anna Kendrick Believed That Her One Twilight Scene Was Saved By Kristen Stewart’s Acting
Anna Kendrick as Jessica Stanley in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | Credits: Summit EntertainmentFor Anna Kendrick, the small role of Jessica in four films of the Twilight series kept her floating, while she did other roles for “no money” (via Vulture). The directors too expected her to bring some human energy into the film that otherwise had some cold vampires and a confused Bella.
During a segment on Vanity Fair, Kendrick rewatched some of her previous works including the Twilight films. Kendrick remembered one scene in Eclipse where she just did an “OK” job. Kendrick wasn’t convinced that the graduation scene in the film would make it into the final cut. When she saw it in theater, she came to realize how much of a role editing plays in the final film.
She recalled that the camera kept cutting to Kristen Stewart during her speech. Kendrick shared that Stewart’s acting was so good in the scene. Kendrick shared that the audience was moved by the scene because Stewart’s Bella was moved by Kendrick’s speech. She shared that Stewart made audiences believe in what Jessica was saying. She shared with Vanity Fair:
I mostly remember being like, ‘Oh, OK, the scene went okay. Like, I don’t know, maybe they’ll cut it. And, then seeing it in the movie theater, it really was one of those things where you have a better understanding of the role that editing plays, because everytime they cut to Kristen, she is so good and she is being so moved by what I’m saying.
But, yeah, you do a little push in on Kristen and suddenly you’re like ‘Wow, this speech is amazing’ because she thinks this speech is amazing. I am doing the bare minimum. I don’t even know what I’m doing. It’s very mid, honestly. Cut to her and you’re like, ‘I don’t know, maybe Jessica’s onto something here’. So, thanks Kristen.
The scene was crucial for Kristen Stewart’s Bella as she had to make the decision of whether to remain a normal human or live with her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen.
Anna Kendrick Recalled Why Producers Thought She Would Improvise Her Graduation Speech
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | Credits: Summit EntertainmentWhile Anna Kendrick pretty much stayed to the script in the graduation speech scene, her producers did not expect her to. Kendrick recalled that the producers came to her after the scene and told her, “Oh, I thought you were going to do that thing you do.”
Kendrick explained that they were talking about her unscripted scene in New Moon where she was seen rambling outside a movie theater. In the scene, she went on about zombie movies and other stuff. The makers decided to keep it all in and expected her to deliver something similar during the speech. She shared:
They gave me this speech and they were like, I thought you were just going to do whatever with it, but I thought that because it was like a speech speech that I should just stick to the script.
Anna Kendrick recently made her debut as a director. Her debut film is based on the real-life story of the serial killer Rodney Alcala and is titled, Woman of the Hour. The film stars Kendrick as Cheryl Bradshaw and Daniel Zovatto as Alcala. It was released on Netflix on October 18.
The Twilight films are now available for rent on AppleTV.
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